Welcome to the SEC

Change of topic today: I had no chance to do any birding because I spent the whole day with my son and Gator football.  If you’re looking for birds, you should probably stop reading here and come back in a few days.

Tailgating with the Gator Alumni

I joined the Austin Gator Club at about 7:00 AM for the long ride over to College Station.  The nearly 300 Gator fans gathered there were cautiously optimistic about the game, but very excited to see Gator football so close to home.  We left the parking lot a bit late but got to College Station in plenty of time to join the UF Alumni Association tailgate party.  It was catered by Buppy’s and was fantastic.  I ate way too much barbecue then spent the rest of the pregame time wandering around the campus, looking unsuccessfully for some shade, and meeting several groups of Robbie’s friends.  Along the way I was warmly greeted by many Aggie fans who were genuinely excited about being part of the SEC and welcoming us to their town and campus.  I was feeling terrific!

Then I got to my seat.  When I sat, the view directly in front of me was of the side of a set of bleachers (left).  When I stood and turned to my left, I could tell that there was a football field, but much of the game itself was basically a rumor (right).  So I watched most of the game on the scoreboard.  During the first half I didn’t think the Gators could win because only the clock seemed capable of stopping the Aggie offense.  During the second half it appeared that the Gator coaching staff made all of the right adjustments and kept the Aggie quarterback from breaking out of the pocket.  Great, gutsy win for the Gators.

We got back to Austin at about 10:00 PM, so it was a long but terrific day.  And I am very aware that I couldn’t have done this if I weren’t retired.  You may get tired of hearing me say this, but life is good.

Gators 20 - Aggies 17